November 04, 2010

Boulder and Beyond

Hi Everyone,

As usual, trying to do too much and running out of hours to do it all. So here's a quick touch-in with more to come soon.

The Fire Within Weekend in Boulder was wonderful. I got to meet a number of mobile wood-fired oven owners who have rigs all over the country (and Canada), and we made, literally, hundreds of pizzas and even hosted a pizza party for 200 local Boulderites who brought their kids, parents, grandparents, and feasted on some pretty amazing pizzas. I was extremely impressed by the dedication of these wood-fired entrepreneurs (both young and old) who are all following their passion to pursue something that they love. This wood-fired oven movement will continue to grow exponentially, so keep an eye out for them as these artisans set up shop near you. There's something wholesome and exciting in all of this--playing with dough and cooking with fire--it's seriously primal and seems to affect everyone who comes in contact with it. Thank you to Joseph Pergolizzi and his team at The Fire Within, to BelGioioso Cheese for donating so much and many kinds of cheeses, and to the other chefs and teachers who donated their time and energy to keep the fires within burning. We filmed much of the event for PizzaQuest.com, so eventually you will be able to see footage from this very special weekend. We even filmed ten instructional videos with many of the oven owners, in front of the Fire Within ovens. We'll begin to roll these out over the next few months, featuring some pretty wonderful pizzas, including a very cool s'mores pizza that has to be seen to be believed.

Speaking of PizzaQuest, we are closer than ever to launching the website. I should have a launch date for you by then next posting. We're still hoping for early December, but I've been wrong before and don't want to blow it again, so I'll give you the date when it's firm. We're writing away, editing the film footage, working hard on the architecture of the site, and can't wait to share it with you.

Finally, I spoke tonight with my recipe testing web master, Mark Witt (who many of you already know), and we're putting the finishing touches on the group site for the next round of recipe testing for the upcoming gluten free baking book. In December I will announce when we will begin accepting applications for testers and I'll spell out all the details. We will then begin the testing process in January. Again, please do not write to me to ask to be a tester--we will have a formal protocol for that and it will be on a first come basis. All will be explained next month.

Thank you for your patience on this and on all the projects we've been promising you. You will be rewarded when PizzaQuest launches and the new book comes together--it's all very exciting! Till then, may your crust be crisp and your bread always rise!